Leather
by Just Slightly Obsessed
Summary: Derek chose his betas carefully, but things didn't really turn out the way he'd planned. Snapshots of Derek's pack, 2x01 to 3x07. Massive spoilers for seasons 2 and 3A.


**Major spoilers for seasons 2 and 3.**

**Drabbles following the story of the group I have dubbed the Leather Jacket Pack, 2x01 to 3x07. If anything is inconsistent with canon, I'm sorry.**

**Many thanks to Megan (currently Queen Viserys) and She-Walks-With-Grace for betaing for me :)**

* * *

"This will hurt."

He warns the kid as soon as he comes to a halt a short distance away from the train wreck.

Isaac's eyes, which had been wide with a sort of fearful wonder, blink once, and then narrow; it is the sudden steely quality behind his gaze that reminds Derek he is not a kid, no more than he himself was at that age.

"I'm used to it."

In an instant Derek is by his side, drawing Isaac's sleeve up and biting down hard into the fragile skin of his forearm.

-x-

The feeling is… otherworldly.

He wasn't expecting to reel the next morning in the same way his new beta would, staring at where the bite had vanished, running his fingers over the skin before looking up at himself in the mirror, trying to work out why his reflection doesn't show the change, the change, the _change_ that's thrilling through his veins.

Derek has no idea what Isaac is doing, though he can guess. It's not a psychic link or anything ridiculous. It's just a feeling, like the ghost of a hand on his shoulder, or the shadow of someone's back on his.

This is nothing like what he has with Scott, or with Jackson. It's not even quite like what he had with his family. It's pack – _his_ pack.

-x-

She's a lot quicker to accept the bite, perhaps because she's tired of being careful. He can see her new recklessness in the way she walks – struts – beside him, feeling the power surging in her limbs, feeling the old weakness slowly ebbing away. He's not quite smiling, but he's pleased, as he steps out into the warehouse, calling out for Isaac.

"Newbie?"

He's standing in the doorway of one of the carriages, looking at Erica with interest. Derek feels her flinch back slightly despite her new-found confidence.

"Yes," he says dryly, taking Erica's wrist and tugging her forwards; she moves at his insistence. "Erica, this is Isaac. And he didn't kill his father."

Her eyes flit from Derek back to Isaac, who's smirking slightly, bravado one hundred percent on. It takes a moment, but eventually a similar smirk curls her own lips. She's not one to be outdone. "Then what did?"

"We don't know." Derek folds his arms. "That's what we need to find out." He's not entirely sure either of them are listening, though, given their eyes are still locked on each other and when Erica opens her mouth next it's to say:

"Nice jacket."

"Thanks." Isaac tugs at it. "My brother's."

Derek hadn't even noticed, but the air suddenly fizzes with regret. He opens his mouth to cut through the heavy silence, but she gets there first.

"Well if this is some sort of leather jacket clique I'd better get to a mall." A surprised glance in her direction reveals a knowing smile beneath almost affectionate eyes.

She fits in effortlessly, and maybe this will be as easy as he hoped.

-x-

"That guy?"

"That guy," Derek confirms, watching as the large figure made his way down the street towards the ice rink.

"I don't recognise him."

"Pretty sure he wouldn't have recognised you a few days ago." He ignores her snarl of protest and begins to move up behind Boyd. Vernon Boyd. With a name like that, he's not surprised the guy is a social reject. People like him, he figures, people like Erica and Isaac, will be stronger, more resilient, more loyal, more willing to agree. He does them a favour and in exchange they bring to the pack better survival skills than anyone of a higher social status – Jackson, even Scott – would have.

"What?"

Hyper aware and brave, on top of that. He grins, shark-like, as he looks at the clearly unimpressed teenager who is now facing him. "Boyd, isn't it? I'm Derek. I'm here to offer you a deal."

"Not interested." He quirks an irritable eyebrow.

There's a slick movement behind him. Derek doesn't need to look to know that his betas now stand behind him, taking their places on either side of him like bodyguards. Or henchmen. He prefers henchmen. And though he's pretty sure the intimidating leather-clad trio has been done to death, it regrounds him, stabilises him, straightens his back ever so slightly.

Maybe Boyd notices, because his already impressive frame also grows minutely. He's drawn to be part of them before he even knows who they are. It's a genuine smile that crosses Derek's face as he responds. "Actually I think you might be."

-x-

He leaves them to whine among themselves, but he knows that what he's doing is good for them. He knows how to get to them. Being hurt makes Isaac angry, being scorned makes Erica innovative, and being kept on the sidelines makes Boyd keen. Those things together might just get them through.

"Your arm okay?" Boyd is the first to break the silence, though like the others he knows that Derek can still hear them despite being out of sight.

"Yeah." Isaac's bones crack in protest as he forces himself to his feet. "Healed already."

"Not sure I'll ever get used to that," Erica says softly. "Healing that fast."

There's another brief silence as their still racing pulses slow, the adrenaline fading, and instinctively align. After a moment they sound like one loud heartbeat.

"Who d'you think he means?" Erica speaks again.

"What?"

"He said he had someone else in mind for me."

"I dunno. Why don't you ask him?"

"I just didn't realise being in his pack meant _mating_ with whoever he wanted us to," she sneers; Isaac laughs. Boyd's soft smirk is a given.

"Well as long as he doesn't start trying to pair us up, I'm up for that." And Derek rolls his eyes from his position inside the train, because the flirting hasn't yet run dry, and while he's glad that they're bonding, again, it wasn't quite what he'd had in mind.

-x-

"Can't we just kill her?"

It's far from the first time he's said this, and Erica can sense the other two getting tetchy about it. "You really want to be a fugitive again for no good reason?" she quips, with just enough of a purr in her voice to keep Isaac's late and slightly overdeveloped ego from being wounded. It's that she doesn't get a slight thrill of delight from the idea of killing Lydia Martin, who has for a number of years been both the bane and the envy of her life. Nevertheless, she does get the feeling that Isaac gets perhaps a little too much pleasure from the idea.

"It's not about us. It's about not killing someone who's innocent." Boyd doesn't speak up much, but when he does, his voice is steady and certain. There's something slightly aggressive in the way he's looking at them, and Erica doesn't quite understand why, but it doesn't matter because Derek's talking now.

"Stop bickering. Erica's right; we can't risk drawing attention to ourselves unnecessarily. Besides," he adds, pulling on a coat, "Scott won't be best pleased if we kill his friend with no good reason."

"Scott's not one of us."

"He _might_ be," Derek snarls, turning on Isaac. "And you're going to be late for school if you don't shut up and get the hell out of here. All of you."

There's a second's pause before Isaac pushes away from the wall he's been leaning on and saunters towards the stairs; Erica shoots Derek a smirk before heading after him. She hears Boyd's last question nonetheless.

"You really think Scott will join us?"

She doesn't hear the answer, and she doesn't think the closing door behind them is the reason why.

-x-

The answer is no. And while the idea of a rival pack has tightened their figurative grips on one another, he can't be sure whether this is a good thing or not.

"Seriously though, Erica, when was the last time you got in a fight when you didn't end up getting your ass kicked?" Boyd's on fine form this evening; Isaac laughs while Erica pouts, not offended enough to snarl.

"It's not just me. Isaac got knocked out too."

"Yeah, well, you're inseparable or something, right?"

"You'll be joining us on the floor any day now, man, don't you worry."

Boyd grins. "Nah, dude, Derek and I'll be running rings around you."

"The only thing we need to be running rings around is the kanima." His interruption is firm, but not unkind, and he's gratified when their heads all turn towards him in a fluid, unified motion. "We still need to work out who it is and figure out a way to stop it. That's our main priority right now."

"How are we going to do that?"

"_You're_ going to stay here and get anywhere near competent at fighting." He stands up, smirking faintly at the glimmers of resentment in their eyes. "Boyd, you're in charge."

He smiles widely. Erica merely quirks an eyebrow. "Where are you going, then, oh great alpha?"

"I'm going to try and track it down. See where it goes. Work out how strong it is."

"And why can't we come with you?"

"Because you're not strong enough. Yet," he adds after a slight pause. "You will be. Soon."

"When?"

Erica's voice is sharper than he'd expected it to be; he frowns slightly before answering, unable to say anything other than repeat what he'd already said. "Soon."

He leaves before they can ask him anything else.

-x-

Scott and Stiles are gone, and leave a silence behind them which rings in Derek's ears like church bells heralding success. They've identified the kanima, and now that Scott's agreed to join them, it won't be long until Jackson is caught, contained and… well, whatever needs doing next.

That's a problem for later. For now, he's exhausted, and Erica needs to go home before her family call a search party. He moves towards the train wreckage, where Isaac and Erica are still sitting.

He doesn't meant to eavesdrop, but something about the tone of Erica's voice makes him stop in his tracks. Their skills aren't yet refined enough to notice his presence mere metres away. Either that or they're too intent on their conversation to care.

"… you don't understand, he _said_ it wouldn't be like this."

"It only happened once. Maybe it was something to do with the kanima."

She snorts derisively, but he can hear the tears in her voice. "That's crap, Isaac."

"What d'you expect me to say? Maybe some things can't be healed by lycanthropy. Derek probably didn't know about epilepsy when-"

"Then why did he promise it would go away?"

Silence. Derek retreats slowly. Erica can stay here tonight; he certainly isn't going to interrupt them now. In fact, he doesn't really want to hear their voices anymore. He makes his way out of the building, stopping once he reaches the cool night air. He draws in a deep breath, hoping it will somehow calm the niggling guilt inside him.

"Need some space, huh?"

He glances across with a frown to see Boyd smiling wryly at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Wanted to make sure she was alright." He raises an eyebrow. "Is she alright?"

Derek hesitates briefly before nodding. It's only half true. Boyd, apparently, can tell.

"You know why they're pissed, right?"

"No." His voice is angrier than he'd expected it to be, even slightly indignant. "I gave them what they wanted. I asked them and they said yes and I gave it to them." Again, the guilt twinges, but he crushes it beneath the anger which rises so easily now.

"You didn't give them what they wanted." He gives a half-hearted shrug. "They didn't really want the bite. They wanted other things, things you didn't give them."

"Like what?"

"Like health, and power. Erica didn't get that. And Isaac wanted someone to look up to, but you've not exactly done a great job of that either."

"And what do you want, Boyd?" he says coldly, taking a step towards him. "What haven't I given you?"

He just shrugs again, his smile fading. "You know what I want. But I'm out here, aren't I?" And he turns and begins walking away from Derek.

-x-

Scott McCall enters the scene in capital letters.

The collaboration is met with various responses from the pack, from anger to indifference, but they all do their duty like the good soldiers they are. None of them see the bombshell coming, not even Derek. Especially not Derek.

"I don't want you to get hurt." And the hope that's dying in the three of them suddenly sparks up in one. He stands up when his pack sister falls, moves independently of her for the first time in a long while, pulls the enemy back. He succeeds.

It's not the end, but it's the beginning of it.

-x-

They're sitting without speaking, tensions running high as the bonds and boundaries shift almost visibly before their eyes.

One unspoken pact breaks as another is formed, allegiances realigning themselves, and though they're all still pack, and they're all still loyal to each other, the way things were isn't working and they need to change.

Because Isaac doesn't want the power, not really, and Erica is feeling desperate like she used to, and Boyd has never felt more alone.

-x-

Still they cling together, and maybe it's the nightmare itself that brings them closer, that forces them to work. Whatever it is, the full moon rises on them at their tightest. They don't argue as Derek fixes them in chains, nodding quietly, their faces scared. Erica faces her pain and her weakness with astounding bravery, strengthened by the reassurance that she can take it. Boyd stands near her, his solid presence a comfort, to her, to all of them, while Isaac holds her back, almost military, from leaping at the man whose strong fingers are twisting screws deeper and deeper into her skull.

They try so hard, but they break loose anyway. The fetters Derek put in place for them hold firm for barely half an hour, and then they stalk towards him, eyes glowing with thirst for his blood, teeth bared. His best efforts barely keep them in check, and though he hates to admit it, it's only when Isaac, by some miracle, manages to quell his blood lust enough to remember himself and hold Boyd down that he manages to get them under control.

Later, when they're all quiet again, he wonders whether it isn't appropriate, somehow, in some sick, twisted way, that fear was what made them work for that split second, and that his chains were unable to keep them down. But then Lydia Martin's there and he can't wonder any more.

-x-

Everything goes to shit, after that.

With every problem solved comes another five problems, more deadly and less solvable than before. Matt and the kanima and Gerard and Peter all blend into one horrific maze in front of his eyes, one he can't even imagine a way out of.

When they return to the lair, they're all alive, but barely. And they all know then. There's no shadow of a doubt that Derek Hale is not cut out to be an alpha.

-x-

Neither of them want to speak to Isaac – he is, after all, the one with the least to lose by staying, and he's not really that close to Erica any more anyway now Boyd has taken his place by her side – but they do. It's the right thing to do, and they know he is surprised and gratified by their concern by the way he says nothing.

"It's okay," Erica ventures, sharing a nervous glance with Boyd. "I mean, Derek's the one at fault here. He said things would be different."

"He certainly wasn't who I thought he was going to be…" he says slowly; slouching against the wall, with his arms folded and his forehead furrowed with deep thought, he looks almost like a little child.

"Then come with us, man."

He hesitates again.

"Isaac?" She puts a hand on his arm, and he moves it away immediately, leaving them all a little surprised. He just about manages to recover himself.

"I- I need to talk to someone."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Go on ahead." He meets their eyes falteringly. "I'll find you."

The silence that follows is wrought with unspeakable thoughts. Then Erica slides her fingers through Boyd's and pulls him away to risk anything but Derek.

-x-

Derek doesn't know why Isaac is still here but it's got something to do with Scott and he isn't sure whether to be grateful or furious.

Fortunately, or not, he doesn't really have time to think about it in too much detail, not until after it's all over. And even then he busies himself with other things, more important things, with finding a proper home for once so Isaac actually has a roof over his head, with training up Jackson so he doesn't murder half the population of London when he leaves, with working out how the hell he's meant to deal with this alpha pack that's decided to start marking its territory.

And yes, Boyd and Erica are gone, and yes, the pack is broken, but really, haven't they all got what they wanted?

And at the end of the day, betrayed or otherwise, Derek doesn't hesitate to act when he realises they're in trouble.

-x-

Cora is a phantom of Erica. He feels slightly sick at even admitting that, given that it's his sister and if anything he should be comparing Erica to her, not the other way round, but it's true.

They all feel it, anyway, not just him. They allow her to soak up a little of the grief. It's in the glances she shares with Boyd, haunted by the memories of the cell and the alpha pack, the friendship that comes from a common feeling of injustice and fear. It's in the way she has become the focus of Isaac's finely-tuned teenage eyes, the tiny quirking of his lips in a faint semblance of his old smirks as she moves around the loft like she's been living there for years.

It's in the regret he feels radiating from her whenever her gaze falls onto him, the knowledge that she is yet another girl who sought help from him and was disappointed. The fear that he might fail her as utterly and spectacularly as he failed Erica.

-x-

Isaac's gone too, now, and Cora has retreated to her room from where she was lurking around the corner. Derek is left to clean up the broken glass and try to forget the look in his beta's eyes.

For once in the whole sorry history of his pack, he feels like he's done the right thing. That doesn't mean he doesn't feel sick with himself. Was the glass really necessary?

Yes, because he chose his betas well. They have the strength of the ignored and abandoned and abused. Isaac is a desperate boy, and he will cling like a limpet to what he feels he can rely on. Now he can no longer rely on Derek. He should have learnt that a long time ago. Bringing up old terrors was the only way he could have got through.

But he feels Cora's disapproval radiating through the walls, and he knows whenever he sees the others again their eyes will hold the same contempt. Honestly, he's not entirely sure he cares that much. It will pass. It's not as permanent, not as important, as the knowledge that surely, surely _now_, his betas are lost to him.

-x-

They don't talk about Derek's death. They don't talk about what it means.

But they sit next to each other on the bus without a word, far away from Scott and Stiles who, though perhaps more friendly, were never pack.

Boyd and Isaac have never really been friends, but they are pack and they know what they have to do. They are exiles, omegas, technically, left stranded without an alpha, without the sister they once had. The only thing they can do is stick close to each other, share the satisfaction of seeing Ethan bleeding, share a motel room, share the knowledge that they both nearly ended their own lives that night, share the unspoken relief and fury when Derek reveals he is alive.

They have never really liked Derek, not even at the beginning, and even less so after everything that has happened since then. Neither of them were satisfied by his explanation for his disappearance, for why he didn't let them know he was okay immediately.

But old injuries are swallowed and they arrive in his loft, excuses made, plans laid, and pain well hidden beneath bluntness and bravado, just like the good old days, back when they really had nothing to complain about.

-x-

There is blood on his claws. Boyd's blood. His beta lies dead before him by his own hand.

There's a ringing in his ears. Cora is suddenly there, weeping, pressing her face against Boyd's chest. His face is wet too. Everything's wet. Water. Boyd's idea. Boyd saved Jennifer. Boyd saved his life.

There's a hand on his shoulder – Stiles's hand – and maybe it's supposed to be comforting, but it's too heavy, too cumbersome to be pack. Boyd's presence was soft and strong. Erica's was light and playful. They were so familiar that he almost forgot they were there sometimes. They're gone now. He can barely tell if Isaac's fingertips are still brushing his shirt anymore. That feeling is dead and buried with his pack, buried beneath guilt and shame and failure. Beneath the accusing weight of a comforting hand he doesn't deserve.

He doesn't shake it off.

-x-

Silence has swallowed them both, the silence of a grief too deep to fathom. They are alone in the wreck of a loft, sitting where he had lain, facing the window black with the triumphant mark of the enemy.

"Did you know how right you were?"

The words are so alien they might be a dream. He doesn't move so much as an eye.

"When you said it would hurt?"

The silence stretches on.


End file.
